I've Been There Before (Grace and Caden)

He regretted it.

When he saw the woman's stiff back, he began to regret it.

"Grace," the woman's voice was soft, and she seemed to be lost. Kern shook and looked anxiously at the woman at the entrance of the stairs, waiting for her to go on... "Who is it?" Kern was shocked and looked incredulously at the figure that had stayed away.

He expected her to be angry. Se would be angry, she would question who he was, and how he knew her name.

But he had foreseen all the possibilities, except that she did not care about it so much.

She was so easy to deny the name, so wasn't it... she denied her existence?

For a moment, he was so timid that he did not have the courage to go after her and asked him what had happened.

Carol came with the medicine kit, and Kern looked at the girl's cheerful steps. It was always bright and cheerful, totally different with that woman.

Maybe that was why Grace would keep Carol, who was obviously not the best choice for the service industry, by her side.

"Ah, Mr. Kern, how did you break your hand so badly?"

Carol was innocent, and couldn't sense the wired atmosphere, and Kern took her hand away. "I will let my assistant to deal with it." He said. Carol didn't want any woman to stay close to him right now, even if she was a cheerful girl like Carol who really thought of him as her big brother. The assistant stepped forward and took the alcohol swab from Carol's hand.

...

It was night, and the wind blew.

The temperature difference between day and night in Erhai Lake was sometimes greater than in the plain.

A woman was standing in the most remote shack in the Memory Inn.

She stood there frozen.

After a long time, the big wooden door was pushed open.

"I know you will be here."

The door was blocked by tall men.

Kern stared at the woman in the room, her thin lips moving,

"Are you not coming with me?"

His eyes looked deep, and at last he said,

"Here he comes."

Kern did not say who it was, but Kern saw that Grace, who seemed to be dying, became pale and panic as she heard the words.

For a moment he felt a slight ache in his heart, and suddenly he wanted to laugh. "I haven't said who 'he' is yet."

He laughed at himself.

What kind of influence that person had on her?

"Who?" The woman asked in a broken voice, feeling that her throat was very dry.

Kern closed his eyes and opened them again. "Can you stop acting like this... Grace, you make me feel down. Never in my life have I felt so decadent." "I... am not a good woman. You can leave tomorrow," she said.

"Caden will be here soon. Really, won't you come with me?" He said, "I will take you away before it is too late. Or it will be too late to leave."

Kern could only see that the woman turned around, clutching the photo tightly to her chest, stood there, shook her head and said firmly, "I'm not going."

She would not leave. This was where she ended her life would be.

"Even if he comes, he could not take me away." She said.

"You know him better than me. Do you think if he wants to take you away, you can stop it?" Kern said sarcastically, "He had been looking for you so long. How could he willingly give up taking you away? Can you stop him?" The woman looked up and nodded her head firmly. "I won't go. He can't take me away."

"It's late at night," she said, putting the photo back on the table and walking slowly to the door. "Mr. Lo, go back to the room. There is nothing left for me to entertain."

Then she shut the door and locked it, ignoring the man, and walking in the night wind.

In the afternoon the next day.

She got a text message.

"Miss, there are so many strange faces in town, all in black suits, white shirts and black shoes. They seem to be looking for you."

It was a message from the owner of the tea set shop.

The woman was nervous.

She said to herself, 'Don't panic, don't be confused. He is in Dali ancient city. He will not find me.'

Moreover, the Erhai Lake was so big that although she had known some people in the past three years in Dali, not many people knew her.

In spite of this, she immediately called her friends and begged them not to reveal her whereabouts.

The day passed in fear and quietness.

Kern was still living here. He was a guest and had not violated their original agreement, but she wanted to get rid of him.

"Won't you ask me who I am?" One sunny afternoon, Kern stopped the woman at a corner and said, "You're hiding from me."

The woman raised her head, "I am not hiding from you, I did it for your good."

"For my own good. You always say so."

In fact, you are for your own good. You are afraid to bear the debt. You are afraid of being in debt to others. Right?!"

"Is there anything wrong?" She glanced at the man in front of her and said, "Is it for your own good that I lie to you?"

"I'd rather you lie to me; I'd rather you are mean!" He was angry. There was no outlet for the anger in his heart, and he thought again that the woman had come to life that night because he had only mentioned that man.

"Do you think you've been at peace these three years you've been hiding here? Do you think you're at peace? It is wrong! You'd be dead by now! That's the difference between you and a pool of stagnant water." "There are no emotions, no laughs, no cry. Don't you never look at yourself in the mirror? Can't you see that this is all that's left of you, this empty shell!"

No, no, no! That was not what he was talking about!

Kern couldn't stop himself from saying something. He kept telling himself to stop, but he couldn't stop himself from saying something mean.

He uttered these bitter words, and he kept denying them in his heart, No! That was not what he was talking about!

What he was going to say was--'Grace, please love yourself! Can you let yourself live like a living person a bit! Don't act like you will not come to life unless it is for Caden's sake.'

'You are a living man! You should live for yourself!'

Right! That was what he was trying to say!

But he!

"I'm sorry..." When he apologized, he raised his head, and what he saw cooled his heart down. The woman in front of him still looked so pale and emotionless, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. She raised her chin slightly, straightened her back a little, and said, "Empty or not, living or dead, Mr. Lo, it's none of your business."

She straightened her back, walked around Kern, and left.

She looked proud and cold... but she seemed to do this deliberately.

Kern covered his face with his hand. "Damn it!" What did he say!!